Automatic powdering machine



S. LIPSIUS AUTOMATIC POWDERING MACHIHE De c. 18, 1928.

Filed Aug. 6, 192 2 Shets-Sheet Patented Dec. l8, 1928.

UNITED STATES SAMUEL LII'SIUS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AUTOMATIC 'POWDERING MACHINE.

Application filed August 6, 1926. Serial N0. 127,506.

This invention relates to apparatus for producing raised printing. Inconnection with the methods of printing with which such apparatus isused the desired copies are printed on sheets, suitable powder isapplied to the printed sheets, the excess powder is removed from theprinted portions of the sheets, and the sheets are then baked so as tofix or set the owder. The powder employed is of a large y resinous orshellac-like nature and inasmuch as it is very finely divided, it isquite difficult to handle and has a tendency to lump and become stickyparticularly in damp and warm weather so that it is extremely diflicultto apply the powder where desired and even more difficult to remove itfrom places where it is not desired.

An important object of the present invention is to provide simple andeffective apparatus to meet the requirements for such work.

Other objects of the invention are to provide apparatus of the characterdescribed which can be operated at high speed and with a minimum ofsupervision; apparatus in which the excess powder is removed at aplurality of positions along the path of the sheets through theapparatus; apparatus in which the sheets are carried by an open workconveyer and comprising a device for blowing the excess powder from thesheets at a certain position in their path and a batlle member locatedimmediately beneath the upper reach of the conveyor belt at the powderremoving position so as to control the air currents irrespective of thepresence or absence of sheets at said powder removing position; andapparatus in which the excess powder is removed from the sheets at aplurality of positions along their path by blowing devices andsubstantially the same amount of air as supplied by the blowing devicesis sucked up at such removing positions to avoid sifting of the powderoutside the apparatus.

In carrying out the invention which utilizes certain principles of someof my prior patents and of my co-pending application Serial No. 69,283,Nov. 16, 1925, of which this is a partial continuation, I provide a wiremesh belt which serves to convey through the apparatus in-a generallyhorizontal direction, sheets which have been printed with suitable ink.The printed sheets may be deposited on the conveyer by hand orautomatica-ll from a printing press, a chute being provided in thelatter case to receive the printed sheets and discharge them on theconveyer. Mounted above the conveyer is a feeding device comprising ahopper from which the embossing powder is discharged upon the sheets asthey pass beneath Preferably the hopper is provided with one or moremetal sheets or plates supported so as to permit vibration thereof andserving to control the passage of the powder from .the hopper. I alsoprovide a device by which the edge of one of the plates or sheets isoperated upon so as to produce vibrations in the metal sheet and insurethe passage from the lower end of the hopper of a fine thin stream ofpowder uniformly and without sticking or clogging. After the powder hasbeen deposited on the sheets, the latter are subjected to treatment forremoving the excess of powder. Such removal may be accomplished, forexample, by means of air blasts. Beneath the conveyer there is areceptacle for receiving powder which has not adhered permanently to thesheets and has passed downwardly below the conveyer. This powder passesto the bottom of the receptacle and is reconveyed to the hopper bysuitable means, such as a belt or chain having buckets, from which it isdischarged into the hopper.

It is of considerable importance to control the powder blown from thesheets for, if the extremely fine powder ordinarily employed be notcontrolled, it would be blown and sifted outside of the machine andwould both inconvenience the operators and cause a waste of the powder.To avoid such waste there may be provided a housing for the hopper andthe conveyer, and suction means including intakes located above theconveyer adjacent the positions at which the excess powder is blown fromthe sheets. Preferably the arrangement is such that the air supplied bythe blowers is taken up by the suction intakes and again returnedthrough the blowing devices. The invention also includes means forholding the sheets on the conveyer against the action of the suctionmeans. It has also been found important to place b-afiie members orplates beneath the upper reach of the conveyer immediately beneath thepowder removing positions so that in case no sheet is in position on theconveyer belt at this point, the air'from the blower will not passfreely through the com veyer belt but will be deflected upwardly by thebafile plate and the normal circulation of air will not be disturbed. Itwill be seen that this arrangement also prevents any abnormal sucking upof air from beneath the conveyer under such conditions. As the sheetspass from the apparatus they may be discharged on a conveyer leading toa usual heater or oven for fixing or setting the powder.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a longtitudinal vertical sectional view on thegeneral plane of the line 11 of Fig.

Fig, 2 is an end view partiallyin section.

Fig. 3 is a detail view illustrating the devices used to hold the sheetsdown on the conveyer beneath the suction intakes; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the structure shown in Fig. 3.

The sheets to be powdered may be deposited on a woven wire mesh orforaminous conveyer belt 5 supported and driven in any suitable manner,as for example, by means including rollers of which the roller 6 at theright in Fig. 1 is supported by a shaft 7 carrying pulleys 8 and 9. Thefirst pulley 8 is connected by a belt 10 with a pulley 11 on a shaft 12mounted in the lower part of the frame. Power may be supplied to theshaft 12 by means of a motor 13 having a pulley 14 connected by a belt15 with a pulley 16 on a shaft 17, power being transmitted from theshaft 17 to the shaft 12 by means of a belt 18 mounted at one end on apulley 19 on the shaft 17 and at the other end on a pulley 20 on theshaft 12.

The powder is placed initially in a receptacle 21 which is located at alower level than the conveyer and at one side of the machine or thepowder may be placed in a hopper 22 above the conveyer and extendingentirely across the same. In the hopper 22 there are inclined plates 23and 24 which extend through a narrow slot at the bottom of the hopper 22and serve to control the discharge of the powder. These plates are resilient and should be quite stiff as well as perfectlv straight alongtheir meeting line at the bottom of the hopper. Preferably both of theplatcs 23 and 24 are vertically adjustable, the plate 23 to vary thepermissive o ening at the bottom of the hopper and the p ate 2t forreasons to be mentioned hereinafter. Such adjustment may be obtained bymeans of bolt and slot connections between the plates 23 and 24 and thecorresponding walls of the hopper 22, the release and tightening of theplates 23 and 24 being obtained by means of wing nuts 25 and 26respectively. The plate 24 is secured quite rigidly to the hopper at itsupper end and the connection is such that it may act as a spring plate,the discharge of the powder being affected by vibrating the plate 24.

Such vibration of the plate 24 is obtained by means of a shaft 27suitably located beneath the hopper and provided with one or moreshoulders which serve to engage the lower edge of the plate 24 and setit into vibration at intervals as the shaft 27 is rotated. The dischargeslot 28 may be approximately from 1/16 to 3/16 of an inch wide. As aresult of the vibration of the plate 24 the powder in the hopper issifted through the slot continuously in a very fine or thin stream. Theactuation of the shaft 27 may be obtained by belt 29 extending around apulley 30 on shaft 27 and around the pulley 9 on shaft 7.

Powder in the receptacle 21 may be raised therefrom by a suitablebucket-type conveyer 31 which is mounted on upper and lower shafts 32and 33 respectively, the upper shaft 32 being driven by means of apulley 31 thereon and a belt 35 also engaging a pulley 36 on the shaft17, As the powder is thrown from the conveyer 31, it passes into adischarge head 37 from which it passes into the hopper 22. To insureuniform distribution, the discharge head 37 is provided with one or moresuitable partitions 38.

Beneath the conveyer belt 5 there is a chute 39 with inclined wallsleading to the powder receptacle 21. so that the powder discharged fromsaid hopper and passing downwardly through the conveyer belt 5 isreturned to the receptacle 21. The chute 39 may be provided with baffles40 which tend to guide the powder passing downwardly from the hopper andthrough the conveyer belt 5, more directly into the receptacle 21.Frequently there is a tendency for the powder to collect at the lowerend of the chute 39 in such a way as to block the entrance thereof intothe receptacle 21 and for the purpose of preventing such action, theremay be provided a link 41 having its upper end attached eccentrically toa shaft 42 having thereon a pulley 43 which is connected by means of abelt 44: with a pulley 45 on the shaft 17.

In the form of apparatus shown herein I provide air blast means forremoving the excess or surplus powder from the sheets on the conveyerbelt 5. Such air blast may be provided by an air pump or blower 46driven by any suitable source of power but preferably by an individualmotor 47 con nected therewith, the blower 46 and the motor 47 beingmounted on the upper part of a hood 48 extending over the hopper 22 andthe greater portion of the conveyer belt 5. As here shown, the outlet 49from the blower 46 is divided into two branches 50 and 51 which areconnected at their lower ends with discharge or blower pipes 52 and 53respectively. The discharge pipes 52 and 53 are provided with dischargeopenings 54 and 55 respectively so positioned that the air blast in eachcase will blow the powder rearwardly beneath the inlets of suction pipes56 and 57 respectively which converge into a single pipe 58 leading to ithe inlet portion of the blower 46. It will be seen that the airexpelled through said openings 54 and 55 will be drawn upwardly throughsaid suction pipes 56 and'57 and after passing through the blower 46will again be expelled through the openings 54 and 55. By thisarrangement undue disturbance of the air is prevented and powder isprevented from sitting to theoutside of the apparatus.

To hold the sheets in position on the couveyer belt 5 while passingbeneath the lower" ends of the suction pipes 56 and 57, pro- Vision ismade of sets of rollers 59 and 60 preferably formed of rubber and withbeveled edges so as to engage only a small portion of the sheets passingthereunder. As shown in Fig. 3 the rollers or discs 59 are provided withcentral openings 60 of greater diameter than the diameter of thesupporting shaft 61 so that when the shaft 61 is suitably spaced withreference to the conveyer belt, the onl. pressure exerted by the roller60 will be t at due to the weight of the rollers. To obtain the properspacing of the rollers or discs'59 use is made of spacing sleeves 62.The rollers or discs 60 are mounted in substantially the" same way asrollers or discs 59,

It has been found that very much better results are obtained by locatingbatlle members or plates 63 and 64 beneath the upper reach oftheconveyer belt 5 and below the lower ends of the suctionpipes 56 and57' respectively. It will be apparent that the baffle members or plates63 and 64 tend to render the action of the air currents substantiallythe same regardless of the movement of the sheets past their powderremoving positions, thus insuring substantially uniform operation at alltimes.

I provide a metal chute 65 between the wire mesh conveyer 5 and theprinting press from which the sheets are advanced by a conveyer 66 tothe chute 65'. By separating the belt 66 from the conveyer belt 5 inthis way, powder from the powdering device is prevented to a greaterextent from collecting on the conveyer 66. s This matter has been foundto be very important since otherwise in a days run a very considerableamount ofpowder might be carried back to the printing press where itwould interfere "ery much with the satisfactory operation of the.apparatus. Obviously, the

chute 65 may readily be cleaned.

It will be seen that the apparatus of the present invention is simple inconstruction and operation, compact in form, and capable of handlinglarge as well as small sheets at a high rate of speed. Furthermore, the

powdering device is such as to make it possible to apply the ordinarycommercial embossing powders uniformly and economically under allconditions of humidity. Also the means for removing the excess powderand controlling the air currents insures not only a uniform distributionof the powder on the sheets and the complete removal of all excesspowder but saves all of the powder which isnot required for theembossing effect and prevents undesirable collection of the powder invarious parts of the machine.

It will be apparent that substantially the same amount of air is takenup by the suction pipes 57 and 58 as is expelled through the openings 54and 55 of the pipes 52 and 53; Under some conditions, however, thepressure in the hood 48 may be increased to an undesirable extent. Inorder to prevent such inerease of pressure in the hood 48 it may bedesirable to provide suitable openings 67. One disadvantage of undueincrease of pressurein the hood 48 would be that powder might be blownout under the front and rear edges of the hood. From the delivery end ofthe apparatus shown, the sheets may pass over a chute 68 to a conveyer69 of a heating or baking device in which the powder is fixed or set.

It should be understood that the embodiment of the invention hereindisclosed is merely illustrative and that various changes may be made inthe arrangement and construction of various parts without departing fromthe true spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In apparatus of the 'character described, sheet-conveying meanscomprising a foraminous belt for supporting the sheets,

means for distributing powder on said sheets, excess-powder-removingmeans including an air blast device, and avbafile immediately beneaththe upper reach of said belt to control the air currents when no sheetis present at said position.

2. In apparatus .for producing raised printing, sheet-conveying means,means for distributingpowderon sheets advanced by said conveying means,means for blowing excess powder from said sheets at a certain positionalong their path, a baflle beneath said path at said position and adevicehaving its intake adjacent the path of said sheets above saidbafile and adapted to carry off the air supplied by the blowing means.

sheets to remove powder. from said sheets,

means for carrying off the air supplied by said blowing devices andcomprising an inlet extending across the conveying means adjacent eachof said powder removing devices, each inlet between blowing devicesextending substantially from one to the other, and battle plates beneaththe path of said sheets and adjacent the blowing devices.

4. In apparatus of the character described, sheet-conveying meanscomprising a foraminous belt for supporting the sheets. means fordistributing powder on said sheets, excess-powder-removing meansincluding an air blast device, a suction device having an inlet adjacentthe path of said sheets at the position where said air blast device actson said sheets, and a battle immediately beneath the upper reach of saidbelt to control the air currents when no sheet is present at saidposition.

5. In apparatus of the character described, 21 foraminoussheet-conveying belt, a hood over the upper run of the belt,powder-applying means including a hopper above the conveying belt, airblast means for removing excess powder from the sheets, a chute toreceive powder passing downwardly through the belt and extending thefull length of the belt, and battle means in said chute including twobaflles immediately beneath and at opposite sides of said hopper toguide powder passing through said belt directly below said hopper downto the bottom of the chute and to PICX'QDl) the blowing of powder out ofthe inlet end of the apparatus.

6. In apparatus of the charater described, a foraminous sheet-conveyingbelt,

means for distributing powder on sheets carried by said belt,excess-powder-removing means including an air blast device blowing theexcess powder rearwardly, means for engaging the upper surfaces ofsheets just before they rea h the powder removing position and holdingthe sheets against the upper side of the belt while the air blast isremoving the excess powder and suction means for carrying off theremoved excess powder.

7. In apparatus of the character described, a sheet-conveying belt,means for distributing powder on sheets carried by said belt,excess-powder-removing means including an air blast device extendingacross the belt and blowing the excess powder rearwardly, a suctiondevice having an inlet at the rear of said air blast device, and abattle beneath the upper run of the belt adjacent the air blast device,and anti-friction means for engaging the upper surfaces of the sheetsafter they are moved above the batlies and serving to hold the sheetsagainst the upper side of the belt.

8. In apparatus of the character described, a foraminous sheet-conveyingbelt,

powder applying means, excess-powder-removing means acting on saidsheets after receiving powder thereon, a chute with converging walls toreceive the powder passing downwardly through the belt and means toprevent clogging of the lower end of said chute, including a crank insaid chute and a link loosely conneted therewith.

9. In apparatus of the character described, a sheet-conveying belt,means for distributing powder on sheets carried by said belt,excess-powder-removing means including an air blast device extendingacross the belt and blowing the excess powder rearwardly, suction meanshaving an inlet extending across the belt at the powder removingposition and at the rear of the air blast device, and means for engagingthe upper surfaces of cards just before they reach the powder removingposition and holding the sheets against the upper run of the belt.

10. In apparatus of the character described, sheet-conveying means, andmeans for distributing powder on the sheets as they advance comprising ahopper above the path of said sheets, a resilient plate in said hopperhaving a free edge, and means for engaging said free edge and causingthe plate to vibrate thereby agitating the powder in said hopper andcausing the powder to flow.

11. In apparatus of the character described, sheet-conveying means, andmeans for distributing powder on the sheets as they advance comprising ahopper above the path of said sheets, a resilient plate in said hopperrigidly secured at its upper edge and extending downwardly through theoutlet of the hopper, and means for engaging the lower edge of the plateand causing the plate to vibrate.

12. In apparatus of the class described, sheet-conveying means, andmeans for distributing powder on said sheets as they advance comprisinga hopper having a narrow outlet extending across the conveying means,resilient plates secured at their upper edges and extending downwardlythrough said outlet to control the passage of said powder, and means forvibrating one of said plates.

13. In apparatus of the character described, sheet-conveying means. andmeans for distributing powder on the sheets as they advance comprising ahopper above .the path of said sheets, a resilient plate in said hopperand having a free edge extending through an openin in the bottom of thehopper, and means tor engaging said free edge and cansing the plate tovibrate, thereby agitating the powder in said hopper and causing thepowder to flow.

14. In apparatus of the character described, sheet-conveying means, andmeans for distributing powder on the sheets as they advance comprising ahopper above the path of said sheets, a resilient plate verticallyadjustable in saidhopper and extending downwardly through the outlet ofthe hopper, and means for'engaging the lower edge of the plate andCausing the'plate to vibrate.

15. In apparatus of the class described, sheet-conveying means, andmeans for distributing powder on said sheets as they ad vance comprisinga hopper having a narrow outlet extendin across the conveying means,upwardly and ownwardly adjustable resilient plates secured at theirupper edges and extending downwardly through said outlet to control thepassage of said powder, and means for vibrating one of said plates.

16. In apparatus of the character described, sheet-conveying means;means for distributing powder on -the sheets as they advance, comprisinga hopper above the path of said sheets, a resilient plate in said hopperand having'a free edge extending through an opening in .the bottom ofthe hopper, and means for engaging-said free edge and causing the plateto vibrate; a chute to receive powder falling below said sheet-conveyingmeans; and means to raise said owder from the bottom of said chute andeliver it into said hopper.

17. In apparatus of the character described, sheet-conveying means;means for distributing powder on the sheets as they advance, comprising.a hopper above the path of said sheets, a resilient plate in saidhopperand having a free edge extending through an opening in the bottom of-thehopper, and means for engaging said free edge and causing the plate tovibrate; a chute to receive powder falling below said conveying means;and means to raise said powder from the bottom of "said chute anddeliver itinto said hopper, and including means to distribute the powderalong the length of said hopper.

18. In apparatus of the character de scribed, a foraminoussheet-conveying belt;

means for distributing powder on sheets conveyed by 4 said belt andcomprising a hopper having a narrow outlet extending across theconveying means, upwardly and downwardly adjustable resilient platessecured at their upper edges, and means for vibrating one of saidplates; excess-powderremoving air blast devices arranged at differentpoints along the upper reach of said belts, suction means includinginlets arranged just above said belt at the bafiies beneath the upperreach of said belt at the powder-removing points, a chute beneath saidbelt to receive powder dropping therethrough, an agitator in said chuteto prevent clogging at the outlet thereof, baffles in said chute toguide to the bottom of the chute powder dropping directly through saidbelt from the hopper, a hood over the top of said machine and havingperforations at the top thereof, means to convey the powder fromdownwardly inclined partitions to assist in guiding the powder todifferent points along the hopper and means for raising powder from saidreceptacle to said distributor.

20. A sheet powdering machine comprising a foraminous sheet conveyer, apowder receptacle below the conveyer, a hopper above the conveyer,vibrating means iri said hopper to automatically agitate the powdertherein, a distributor extended across said hopper, means forraisingpowder from said receptacle to said distributor, a hood enclosing most of the upper run of the conveyer, and suction means connectedwith said hood.

21. A sheet powdering machine comprising a foraminous belt sheetconveyer, a powder receptacle below the conveyer, a hopper above the.conveyer, a distributor having a plurality of inclined channelsextending over said hopper to different points, a suction'device forremoving floating particles of powder and returning them to saidreceptacle and means for raising powder from said receptacle to saiddistributor.

22. In a sheet powdering machine, a conveyer, a powder hopper having tworesilient plates overlapping each other above said conveyer, one of saidplates-being adjustable with reference to the other to vary the possibleseparation of their adjacent edges and automatic means forintermittently and rapidly engaging a free edge of one of said plates toefliect vibration and to feed the powder uniformly from said hopper.

23. In a sheetpowdering machine, a. sheet conveyer, a hopper, and meansfor distributing powder on sheets on said conveyer including a movableinclined partition at one side of said hopper having its lower endprojecting below the hopper and a rotating shat't having means thereonfor intermittently engaging said lower end for rapidly vibrating saidpartition and thereby move said end away from the stationary part of'the hopper to intermittently deposit powder.

I 24. A sheet powder-ing machine comprising a foraminous sheet conveyerbelt, a powder receptacle below the conveyer, a hopper above theconveyor and having a resilient plate rigidly secured at one edge, theopposite edge being arranged close to a stationary edge of the hopper,means for vitudinally of the hopper and a plurality of a ,brating saidplate to intermittently form utor, means for removing excess powder fromthe sheets on said conveyer, and a hood enclosing most of the upper runof said sheet conveyer.

25. In a sheet powdering machine, a conveyer, a powder discharginghopper with converging sides above the conveyer and having a narrow slotat the bottom extending across the convever, a vibrating member in saidhopper and etween the walls thereof forming one edge of a dischargeopening for agitating the material in the hopper and opening and closingthe discharge opening, and means for automatically vibrating thevibrating member from outside the hopper.

26. A sheet powdering machine comprising a foraminous belt conveyerhaving a horizontal run for supporting the sheets to be powdered, ahopper arranged with a narrow outlet extending across the conveyer nearone end, means for dislodging excess powder from the sheets on theconveyer, a collecting .chute having its upper end extending beneathsubstantially the entire upper run of the conveyer below the hopper andthe powder 'dislodging means and having its walls converging downwardlyto a point at one side of the machine beneath the hopper, a powderlifting conveyer dipping into the bottom of said chute at the sidethereof and having a housing extending up along one side of the machine,a distributorextending from the upper end of said li'ftin'" conveyer andits housing to the u per end of the hop er, a hood enclosing sai hopper,said dislo ging means and said distributor. 27. A owdering machinecomprising a conveyer lielt, a hopper for delivermg a narrow stream ofpowder across the belt, a collecting chute beneath the belt, a liftingconveyer and distributor for returning the unused powder from said chuteto the hopper, a suction blower having an outlet for ejecting a streamof air onto the top of the belt for dislodging excess powder, saidsuction blower having a suction inlet adjacent the blower outlet forimmediately picking up the floating particles of powder from the airabove the belt and returning such particles with the dislodging streamof air and a hood enclosing said hopper, said distributor, said bloweroutlet and said suction inlet.

28. In a powdering machine, a foraminous travelling conveyer belt, ahopper having an outlet above the belt for depositing a thin layer ofpowder as sheets are carried under it by the conveyor, a blower havingan outlet arranged close to the upper run of the conveyer for removingexcess powder from the sheets, a suction pipe having an inletimmediately adjacent the blower outlet and close to the conveyor, a hoodsurrounding the outlet of the hopper, the outlet of the blower and theinlet to the suction pipe, means for collecting the unused powder andmeans for returning the collected powder to the hopper.

SAMUEL LIPSIUS.

